9 Barriers to Effective Communication

In today’s post I consider barriers to effective communication. Although my focus is on leading change and project management the barriers to effective communication listed could equally apply to any area of business management.

Effective communication is an essential leadership skill that’s often overlooked. For the project leader it is crucial to successful project delivery. For the change leader effective communication is the foundation for creating a climate of change.

However, achieving understanding is often difficult in an atmosphere of uncertainty and change–the realm of the project manager and those leading change.

What’s more, most change leaders and their sponsors tend to be over-optimistic about the accuracy and efficacy of communication. They often fail to take enough notice of the following barriers to effective communication.

Barriers to Effective Communication

In this short list I identify barriers to effective communication that will–if not addressed–contribute to the failure of business change projects.

Uncertainty of message: when we are simply unsure of what to say and when to say it

Faulty presentation: this may occur by choosing the wrong medium, e.g. sending an email when a face-to-face meeting is better

Limited capacity of audience: where those receiving the message do not have the necessary training to interpret the information

Unstated assumptions: where both parties are unaware that they each have different assumptions about the message

Incompatible viewpoints: failure to communicate because both parties view circumstances from completely different perspectives

Lack of channels: where people who have information with which others may usefully benefit–and vice versa–but who are unaware of the needs of each other because there are no formal channels allowing such exchange of information

Cumulative distortion: the longer the chain of people receiving and passing information the more distorted the message becomes by the time it reaches those last in the chain

Resistance to Change

Later I will discuss remedies for overcoming the barriers to effective communication. However, I first need to introduce some ideas–and models–on resistance to change and stakeholder engagement. Only then can we think about communication, motivation, and the change process.

To summarise, I intend to consider the following points over the next few weeks as I address the topic of effective communication